A trusted platform module (TPM) is a silicon chip that constitutes a secure encryption key-pair generator and key management device. A TPM provides a hardware-based root-of-trust contingent on the generation of the first key-pair that the device creates: the SRK (storage root key). Each SRK is unique, making each TPM unique, and an SRK is never exported from a TPM.
A major drawback that has been encountered in hardware-based roots-of-trust is that TPM devices can at times fail or be inadvertently cleared. Also, it has been increasingly common for a TPM to be integrated into other devices (such as a computer motherboard) that may itself fail and require replacement. Therefore, it is essential to be able to configure a replacement TPM and make existing security credentials usable again.
Typically, this is brought about via a series of manual steps: determining that a TPM has been replaced, generating an SRK on the new TPM, and importing all existing keys. Because this process does not take place automatically, it is subject to the vagaries of manual intervention and manipulation, with the result that there might not be an identical configuration to what existed originally.
In view of the foregoing, a need has accordingly been recognized in connection with effecting a process that avoids the pitfalls of the type of manual process just described.